^1aA prayer for the afflicted man who is languishing, and who pours out his case before the Lord.

^1bO Lord, hear my prayer,

And let my crying out come to you.

²Do not hide your face from me;

On the day when I am in a strait,

Incline your ear to me.

On the day when I call,

Do answer me quickly.

³For my days are ending in smoke,

And my bones are burning up like a firebrand.

⁴My heart is aggrieved

And dried up like grass,

So that I forget to eat my bread.

⁵With the sound of my sighing,

My bones cleave to my flesh.

⁶I have come to resemble the desert pelican;

I have become like the owl of the wastelands.

⁷I have been sleepless,

And I have become like a solitary bird on a rooftop.

⁸My enemies reproach me all day long;

Those who make me look foolish

Have taken oaths against me.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread

And mixed my drink with weeping,

¹⁰On account of your indignation and your wrath,

For you have lifted me up

And thrown me down.

¹¹My days are like a declining shadow,

And I am drying out like grass.

¹²But you, O Lord, dwell age-abidingly,

And remembrance of you is from generation to generation.

¹³You will rise up and have mercy on Zion

When it is time to show it grace

– When the season has come.

¹⁴For your servants delight in its stones

And are well-disposed to its dust.

¹⁵And the Gentiles will fear the name of the Lord,

As will all the kings of the earth your glory.

¹⁶When the Lord has built Zion,

He will appear in his glory.

¹⁷He turns to the prayer of the destitute,

And does not despise their prayer.

¹⁸This will be written for the last generation,

And a recreated people will praise the Lord.

¹⁹For he has peered down from his holy heights;

The Lord has looked down from heaven to the earth,

²⁰To hear the groaning of the prisoner,

To unbind those condemned to death,

²¹To declare the name of the Lord in Zion,

And his praiseworthiness in Jerusalem,

²²When nations gather together,

And kingdoms too,

To serve the Lord.

²³ He has oppressed my strength on the way;

He has shortened my days,

²⁴So that I say,

“O God of mine, do not take me up at half of my days.

Your years are throughout generation and generation.

²⁸Your servants' sons will be settled,

And their seed will be established before you.”

Reference(s) in Chapter 102: v.25 ↔ Hebrews 1:10 ● v.26 ↔ Hebrews 1:11, Hebrews 1:12 ● v.27 ↔ Hebrews 1:12.